Bread slicing machine



Sept. 14, 1937. E, El POUUN BREAD SLICING MACHINE- Filed Sept. 8, 1954 5SlleetS-Sheel'l l Sept. 14, 1937. E E PQULlN 2,092,857

BREAD sLIcING MACHINE Find sept. s, 1954 5 sheets-sheet 2 v INVENTOR7a/10M Pon /fr ATTORNEYS Sept. 14, 1937. E, E- PQULlN BREAD SLICINGMACHINE Filed sept. 8, 1934 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 ff uw 33 mi mmnmm INVENTORBY 7D/Vamo HwL//v paf/wf Zed/,4

TTORNEYS sept.- 14, 1937. E. E. POULIN 2,092,857

BREAD SLICING MACHINE Filed Sept. 8, 1934 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 TTORNEYSSept- 14, 1937. E. E. PoULlN l BREAD sLlclNG MACHINE Filed Sept. 8,41934 5 Sheets-Sheet TTORNEYS Patented Sept. 14, 1937 Unirse. stares Y*2,092357Y` y i BREAD sLrcING. MACHINE;

'Edmond'EPoulim `Springfield, Mass.l,assign0rto. National Bread WrappingMachine Go., Springfield, Mass., a corporation of Massachusetts.limilicaticnv September 8, 1934, SerialNo.l 743,239'

.11 Claims. (Cl. 14S-153V) This inventionrelates tobread slicingmachines and has particular reference to mechanism for carrying theloaves through the slicing knives. In.prior slicing. machines it hasbeen` customary to carry the bread from one side to the other of the.slicing knives, by a reciprocatingp'lunger havingrngersspaced to pass`between'the knives. While. this` type of. mechanism is simple, it isessentially slow in operation because of the long inactive period duringthe rearward travel of the plunger in which no, loaf` is beingforwarded. The useV of. an endless serieslof pushers on a conveyor chainis general .usable only with cutters of the disc` type and, while rapidin operation,.it is not. adaptable to cutters of the band or.reciprocating saw types. Furthermore, in order to change fromonethickness of` slice to another this .type of loaf 'carrier requires thereplacement of a large number of pushers in order to provide fingers oftherproper spacing for passing between the. cuttingdiscs. A third buteven lesssatisfactory type offeed has sometimes been employedi'n whichthe loaves are pushed through the cutters solely by the, pressure of. a@le of loaves behind them.'` The main difculty with this type of feed isthat, particularly whensoft bread is-being sliced; the loaves are undersuch a heavy pressure that they becomev distorted. Furthermore, thismethod of feedinghasthe disadvantage that the machinefwill not. clear.itself whenit is stopped, and someway mustbezpro.- videdto force. thelast loaf .through'the blades.

It is the object of the present. invention to. provide a mechanismforfeeding the loaveswhi'chis adaptable to any type of cuttingmechanism andwhichwillavoid the disadvantagesof prior forms,

as-outlined; above. A. further` object is tohprovide for. asubstantially continuous movement of the loafv through therutting bladeswithout requiring the use of an lendless series. of pushers, therebyincreasing the rapidity with which a series of loaves can be handled.Afurther object is'to provide a plurality of. successivelyactingmechanisms coacting to carry-the loaf through the cutters without anysubstantialv interruption in its-forward movement'. A further object.is.t`o provide a slicing machine ofA the reciprocating blade type inwhich a. substantiallyincreased number of loaves can be sliced in-a'lgiven period of time. A further object isf to-provide a loaf forwardingAmechanismV having a minimum of parts to be interchanged when thethicknessof the slice is varied. A further object is to pro- Vvide amechanism whichwill handle loaves` of any of the-various shapesmet-with.and, in parchine; and

v34. To each `end ofthe rocker are .pivoted-links 35- joinedy at theirupper` ends to `p usvh rodsi36 suitably journaledlin theframe for,vertical re- *its'upperl ends bearing en rods 39 fixed on the ticular thandle the so-calledhearth: baked loaves which are'v very irregular incontour. A further object. is to provide a kme'cl'ianism which may beusedeitlier in synchronism witha wrapping machineY orseparately..'Additionalobjects 5 will' appear Vfr`cm the 'following description anddrawings.; f I Referring to the drawings: Y Fig.` 1 is a side. elevationof' the machine', taken in section on line |-I of Fig, 2; l0

Fig. 3'is a detailsection on linef3i-3 offFig. 1;

Fig. 4 is atop plan` detail of' the knifemounting; i

Fig. 6`is a detail of the driving mechanism for the cross feedmechanism; j

Fig. 7 isa detail'o-f'the drivel for one ofthe pushingielements; f v YFig. Slis'a detailof the. di'vegforv another. of 1 the pushingel`ements;.` 1' i Fig. 9. is a detail'of the mechanismwhich re1-YVceives ythe sliced loaffrcmthecutters;

Fig. `10 is a.detallplalnfthemechahism shown innige; i f Figs..11 tc15arev diagranunaticiviews illus-V trating the progress. of.'l a loaf."through'. the fina- Eig. 16 -is adetail ofcertain driving mechanism. Themachine ismountedupon a frame 20 in whichis journalled amain drive and.-carnfshaftv 2 l. This shaftris preferably` driven from avwrap- Vpingmachine by a sprocket 2.2-.acting through: av

clutch and-.overload release.23. vAllof themech- 35 drive is providedfor the, knives. A knife driving motor 25 is mountedon the frame of themachine and bears apulley 26 .connected by a'belt 2'!r with aflywheel'28ona shaft 29.. This shaft bears a crank.30joined by avconnectingrod 3l lwith an arrnf32 extendingfrom afrocker 33 onashaftCprccation.. A knife frame .3lv is mounted YVon V' each'rof thepushro'dsand has extensicnsat frame. AsV the rocker isv reciprocated byY thecrank. the frames 31 wi1l.be. raised. and. lowered Y alternately withgreat. rapidity andsmoothness. Referring'.particularlytoFigs..1, 4; and5each knife framecarries a block Areceived and bolted.y

Fig. 5 isa sectional detail of ytlfieknife mountf ner illustrated inFig. 15.

' element of a Geneva movement 1|.

in place in a dovetailed groove 4| formed in the frame, the block havinga projecting ngered portion notched on its under side to receive pins 42secured to the knife blades 43. Similar pins on the upper ends of theknives are received in slots 45 formed in. knife holders 46, the shanks41 of which slide through holes in aluminum blocks 48. These blocks, ofwhich there is one to each frame, rest on shoulders 49 formed in theframe and, similarly to blocks 4|, are screwed or bolted in place. Abovethe block 48 springsy 50 encircle the shanks 41 and bear against nuts 5|to give to the holding members 46 a constant upward tendency. Each knifeblade is thus individually held under a controllable tension. It will beobserved from Fig. 1 that the knife holders on the two frames areoppositely directed so that the knives lie in the same planetransversely of the machine. They are reciprocated rapidly by themechanism described, one set going up while the alternately arranged setis going down. To guard against accidents the knives are preferablycovered by a plate 52 hinged to the frame at 53 so that it may be liftedwhen desired. l

Mounted on the frame is a cross feed table '60 supported on a sidewardlyextending'bracket 6|. Along this table the loaves are pushed by a seriesof paddles 62 carried by a chain 63. This chain passes around sprockets64 and 65, the latter of which is carried by a shaft 66 (Fig. 16). Agear ,61 on this shaft meshes with a gear 68 on a shaft 69Y driven asshown in Fig. 6. A pinion on the shaft '69 is driven by a gear 10 uponthe driven The driver 12 is coupled by a chain 13 with a sprocket 14 .onthemain `drive shaft 2| .referred to above. Intermittent motion is thusgiven to the paddles, with the periods of rest occurring when the loavesare successively positioned in front of the knives. VDuring their vtravel along the table 60 the loaves are guided by side plates 15.ASince this cross` feed mechanism is driven from the shaft 2| it moves insynchronism With the wrapping machine and the loaves will therefore bedelivered into the slicing device in timed relation to the wrappingmechanism. a A table upon which the loaves are delivered by this crossfeed mechanism, is formed as a continuation of the table 60, and it aswell as .the cross feed table is slotted at 8| (Fig. 15) to permitpassage of the paddles 62. A pusher 82 receives the loaves from thecross feed conveyor and `forwards them at right angles theretosubstantially up to or preferably partially through the knives, as isshown in Figs. 11 to 15. This pusher is detachably connected at 83 to aslide 84 mounted for reciprocation upon guide rods 85. A link 86 joinsthis slide to an arm 81 free on a shaft 88. A lowerextension 89connected to this arm is slotted at 90 (Fig. 8) to receive an adjustablepivot pin 9| so that the stroke of the pusher may be varied. A link 92connects this arm to an arm 93 pivoted tothe frame at 94 and bearing aroll 95 engaging a cam 96 on the main shaft 2|.

The pusher 82 is provided with slots 91 to permit the passage of asecond pusher in the man- This second pusher |00 is formed withextending ngers |0| adapted to pass between the cutting blades 43 and ispivoted at |02 to a carriage |03 (Fig. 1) mounted for reciprocation uponguide rods |04. Links |05 join this carriage to arms |06 xed on theshaft 88. An arm |01 also xed to this shaft is coupled by a link |08with a rocker |09 pivoted to the frame atY 94. This rocker carries arolll engaging a cam ||2 on the main shaft 2 The linkage described givesto the carriage |03 a back and forth motion only. lThe tilting of thepusher |00, illustrated in Figs. 11 to 15, is accomplished by mechanismto be described.

In order to tilt the pusher |00 a link'I I5 is pivoted at I6 to acarrier I1 upon which the pusher itself is mounted. This link is joinedto a rocker ||8 pivoted at ||9 to one of the arms |05 previouslydescribed. A push rod |20 (Fig. '7) is also connected to the rocker ||8and is slotted at its other end. at |'2| to embrace a block |22 looselymounted uponV the shaft 2 The link also bears a roll |23 engaging-a cam|24 on the main shaft. It Will be seen that the cam |24 gives a motionto the rocker which is varied somewhat by the motion of the pivot ||9,the joint effect of both motions being to cause the pusher |00 to moveforwardly in a straight line, as shown in Figs. l5, 11, and 12; and thento tilt upwardly as in Figs. 13 and 14 to clear the loaf on its rearwardstroke. As the pusher nally reaches its normal pushing Vposition itsfingers |0| pass down into'the slots will be noted that the pivot |02'is located to the i rear of the loaf contacting surface of the pusherand above the level of the loaf. Since the pusher swings vupwardly uponthis pivot as the pivot starts its rearward motion, and since due to theposition of the pivot described above the pusher in its upward motionwill swing slightly forwardly relatively to the pivot; the combinedeffect will be to make the loaf contacting part of the pusher moverearwardly at a slower rate than Athe pivot. This shifting forwardly ofthe ypusher makes it possible to have the loaf being moved by pusher 82in a somewhat more advanced position when the pusher |0| starts back,and decreases thel necessary stroke of both pushers. The second pusher|00 carries the loaf completelyl through the knives into the positionofFig. 12, and for this purpose the ngers |0| are provided. As

this necessitates a change in the spacing of the fingers when thespacing of the knives is varied,

the pusher is detachably mounted upon its carrier |I1, as by bolts |25.

As the loaf passes through the knives it is received by end grippingplates |30 which preferably grasp the loaf before the end slices have achance to be completely separated from the body.v This is particularlyadvantageous in the case of rounded or hearth baked bread in which l,the end slices are of considerably less width than links having a spring|33 attached to it. The

plates are thus given a tendency topressagainst the end of the loaf, butcan be forced outwardly Vwhile retaining their parallel relation.v4

The slides |32 reciprocate in guides |35 attached to Va frame |36.change the spacing of the end grip plates in accordance with the lengthof the loaves being acted on, the frames |36 are slidably mounted upon across piece |31,'being` held in adjusted position as by a screw |38.Upon a cross shaft |39 is mounted an arm |40 coupled by a link |4| As itis necessary to j..

with a rocker M2 pivoted to the machine frame Y at |43. Therlower end ofthis rocker has a roller the end gripping plates |33 will bereciprocated 'back and forth, as indicated in Figs. l1 to 15.

The plates |39 grasp the ends of a loaf as it is being pushed throughthe knives and carry it forwardly on to a plate i653. When the loaf hasbeen deposited on this plate it is carried along by pushers I6! mountedon chains 62. These chains are mounted on sprockets |63 and |64, thelatter of which is journaled in the frame |65 which carries the shaft|39 and the cross piece |31. In their travel along the plate |60 theloaves are guided by side plates |66, each of which is pivoted at itsforward end at |61 to one of the guides |35. At a more rearward pointthe side guides are pressed inwardly by springs |68 mounted on studs |69so that the plates may yield if necessary under the pressure of a loaf.

In order to adjust the parts to the receiving end of the wrappingmachine, the delivery conveyor and the attendant parts are mounted sothat they can be varied slightly in the elevation of the delivery end ofthe conveyor. For this purpose the frame |65 is pivoted on the shaft 16which carries the sprocket |63 and at its other end is provided with asliding extension |1| held to the main machine frame by a bolt |12. Theshaft |10, as shown in Fig. 6, is driven by a chain and sprocketconnection |14 with the main shaft 2|. A bridge plate |15 is preferablyemployed to guide the bottom of the loaves from the plate 80 on to theplate |60. In order to permit this bridge plate to be swung out of theway when the knives are to be replaced, it is pivotally mounted onshafts |16, being held in place by a spring plunger |11.

Referring to Figs. 11 to 15, it will be seen that the loaves arereceived from the paddles 62 -by the plunger 82 and are carried by it upto and, in the case of a wide loaf, partially through the cutting blades43. Before the pusher 82 starts its receding movement, however, theplunger EQ!) has descended with its fingers lill in the slots 91 of theplunger 82. The plunger |93 thenstarts forward, carrying the loaf, asshown in Figs. 11 and 12, completely and positively through the knives.As the loaf emerges from the knives it passes between the spring plates|30 which, as they receive the loaf, start ahead, synchronizing in theirspeed with the plunger lill). Any short end slices will thus be held tothe main body of the loaf and will be carried along with no tendency todisplacement. As soon as the sliced loaf is thoroughly placed on theplate |60 it is carried ahead by the pushers Il, the pressure of theside plates |30 o-n the end slices and the later pressure of the sideguides |66 holding the loaf assembled.

I claim:

1. A bread slicing machine comprising slicing knives, a reciprocatingnotched pusher movable to carry a loaf intov but not completely throughthe knives, a second pusher having lingers to pass between the knives,and means for moving the second pusher in such a path that it iirstclears a loaf being advanced by the rst pusher, then moves to the rearof the loaf with its iingers extending into the notches of the firstpusher, and iinally advances the loaf still further through the knives.

2. A bread slicing machine comprising slicing knives, means for pushinga loaf partway through ythe knives, a iingered pusher, engaging theloaff0 to carry it completely through the knives, and Y loaf endgrasping means operable to grasp the ends of a partially cut loaf and tomo-ve with the fingered pusher to prevent separation of the slices.

3.'A slicingmachine comprising slicing knives, means for carrying a loafthrough the knives, opposed plates receiving the loaf from the knives, areciprocating carriage on which the plates are mounted, parallel motionlinkages connecting the plates to the carriage, and spring Vmeans urgingthe plates together.

4. A slicing machine comprising slicing knives, means for carrying aloaf through the knives,

opposed plates receiving the loaf from the knivesjfa reciprocatingcarriage on which the plates are mounted, parallel motion linkagesconnecting the plates tothe carriage, and spring means urging the platestogether, said linkages being set so as to. cause the plates to graspthe loaf tightly as'- t'ne carriage is moved away from the-knives.

5. A bread slicing machine comprising slicing knives, a support for theloaf during its passager through the knives, a reciprocating pushermovable to carryV a loaf to theknives, a carriage reciprocable adjacentsaidV pusher, a second pusher having Vngers to pass between the knivesand pivotally mounted on the carriage, and means for rotating the secondpusher on its pivot during the reciprocating cycle of the carriage tocause it to clear a loaf being advanced by the rst pusher. Y

6. Afbread slicing machine comprising slicing knives, a support for theloaf during its passage through the knives, a reciprocating pushermovable to carry a loaf to the knives, a carriage reciprocable adjacentsaid pusher, a second pusherv having ngersto pass between the Yknivesand pivotally mounted on the carriage, and means for rotating the secondpusher on its pivotclur'- ing the reciprocating cycle of the carriageto. cause it to clear a loaf being advanced bythe rst pusher, the rstpusher having notches in its forward surface to receive the fingers ofthe second pusher.

'1. A bread slicing machine comprising a frame, slicing knives, asupportY for the loaf during its passage through the knives, a.reciprocating pusher movable to carry a loaf to the knives, a carriagereciprocable above said pusher, a second pusher having fingers to passbetween the knives and pivotally mounted on the carriage, a leverpivoted on the frame, Vmeans for oscillating the lever, means couplingthe lever to the carriage, a second lever pivoted upon a portion of therst lever between its pivot on the frame and its coupling to thecarriage, means for coupling the second lever to the second pusher so asto rock said pusher on its pivot, and means to give to the second levera motion independent of the motion given to itby the first lever andserving to rock said second pusher upwardly during the rearward strokeof the carriage to clear a loaf being advanced by the iirst pusher.

8. A bread slicing machine including slicing knives, a support for aloaf during its passage through the knives, and mechanism for forwardingthe loaf into the knives comprising a reciprocating pusher, a secondfingered pusher, and means for moving the second pusher forwardly tocarry the loaf toward the knives and rearwardly over a loaf beingadvanced by the first pusher, the paths of the two pushers intersecting,the rst pusher having slots to receive the ngers of the second pusherduring the movements of the twopushers in the intersecting portions oftheir paths.

9. A bread slicing machine including slicing knives, a support for aloaf during its passage through the knives, and mechanism for forwardingthe loaf into the knives comprising a reciprocating pusher, a secondfingered pusher, a pivot for the second pusher located to the rear ofthe loaf contacting face of the pusher, means for moving the pivotforward and back, and means for tilting the pusher upon said pivotduring its rearward motion to cause it to clear a loaf being advanced bythe reciprocating pusher, said moving and tilting means being soconstructed that the paths of the two pushers intersect, the rst pusherhaving slots to receive the ngers of the second pusher during themovements of the two pushers in the intersecting portions of theirpaths.

10. A bread slicing machine comprising a frame, slicing knives, asupport for the loaf during its passage through the knives, areciprocating pusher, a carriage reciprocable above said pusher, asecond pusher pivotally mounted on the carriage, a lever pivoted on theframe, means for oscillating the lever, means coupling the lever to thecarriage, a second lever pivoted upon a portion of the iirst leverbetween its pivot on the frame and its coupling to the carriage, meansfor coupling the second lever to the second pusher so as to rock saidpusher on its pivot, and means to give to the second lever a motionindependent of the motion given to it by the rst lever and serving torock said second pusher upwardly during the rearward stroke of thecarriage to clear a loaf being advanced by the rst pusher.

11. A bread slicing machine comprising a frame, slicing knives, asupport for the loaf during its passage through the knives, areciprocating pusher provided with grooves in its leading face, acarriage reciprocable above said push-- er, a second pusher pivotallyVmounted on the carriage and provided with ngers adapted to intert withthe grooves in the first pusher, a lever pivoted on the frame, means foroscillating the lever, means coupling the lever to the carriage, asecond lever pivoted upon a portion of the rst lever between its pivoton the frame and its coupling to the carriage, a second lever pivotedupon a portion of the first lever between its pivot on the frame and itscoupling to the carriage, means for coupling the second lever to thesecond pusher so as to rock said pusher on its pivot, and means to giveto the second lever a motion independent of theA motion given to it bythe first lever and serving to rock said second pusher upwardly duringthe rearward stroke of the carriage to clear a loaf being advanced bythe rst pusher and then to descend into the grooves of the first pusher.

EDMOND E. POULIN.

